Exercise: Just Do It

When spring and summer roll around, people spend more time outdoors. But we don’t see a marked increase in the amount of exercise people do. My advice regarding exercise can be summed up in this sentence borrowed from Nike: Just do it.

The merits of exercise have long been touted by medical professionals, lifestyle commentators, and concerned family and friends. Allow me to list what many of you probably already know.

Exercise can*:

• reduce the risk of dying from heart disease
• reduce the risk of stroke
• reduce the risk of developing diabetes
• reduce the risk of developing high blood pressure (hypertension) or can reduce blood pressure
• reduce the risk of developing colon cancer
• help control weight
• help build and maintain healthy bones, muscles, and joints
• help older adults build strength and maintain mobility
• reduce feelings of depression and anxiety and promote psychological well-being
• aid weight loss efforts
• help smokers quit smoking
• decrease the cost of health care

And this isn’t even an exhaustive list. Exercise offers a wealth of benefits. You may not experience these benefits immediately, but exercise is good for your long-term health. Start establishing good habits now.

Give me some guidelines!

Okay, let’s define exercise more clearly. Not all motion qualifies as exercise. To tap into exercise-related benefits, you need to do moderate-to-vigorous exercise that is more intense than your daily living activities.

Your maximum heart rate is roughly 220 minus your age. Moderate exercise will get your heart rate up to 50% to 70% of your maximum heart rate. For example, if you are 30 years old, your maximum heart rate would be around 190 beats per minute. Activities that get your heart to beat at 85 to 133 beats per minute can qualify as exercise. Note: We usually discourage regular exercise that gets your heart rate higher than 80% of your maximum heart rate.

In terms of duration, both the American Heart Association and the American Diabetes Association recommend about 150 minutes of exercise per week. That works out to be about 30 minutes per day for five days. Here, we’re talking about moderate intensity exercise. If you prefer vigorous exercise, you only need about 90 minutes per week, but that exercise should be distributed over a period of three days.

Slimming down

Many people exercise to lose weight. It has been shown that fatty tissue could make cells insulin-resistant. Being dangerously overweight could also raise your blood pressure and lower your metabolism, as well as put you at risk for a battery of other ailments.

The great thing about exercise is that it helps to promote good energy balance. Everything we eat has calories. I’m sure you’ve seen plenty of mechanisms for calculating how many calories you take in. Most people nowadays are on calorie-dense diets; they get more calories per gram of food they consume. Exercise helps us spend the calories we consume. Weight maintenance is when consumption equals expenditure. Weight loss is when consumption is less than expenditure.

If you’re looking to lose weight, most medical professionals would recommend losing about a pound per week. You can certainly do more or less than that, but don’t stray too much from that guideline. A pound is worth about 3500 calories. If your goal is to lose a pound per week, that roughly works out to putting yourself in a 500-calorie deficit every day.

Balance the energy (calories) you take in and use up. Too much one way or the other doesn’t promote good health.

No excuses

Exercise requires a certain amount of determination. Many people have hectic schedules that involve tons of travel and late-night conference calls. I often hear people say they don’t have time to exercise. Other people complain about the heat or exorbitant gym membership prices. My response? Don’t make excuses.

If you consider exercise a worthwhile habit – similar to brushing your teeth – you’ll make time in your day to do it. You might have a great figure and good health without exercising, but you’re probably not as strong as you could be or you may be working under stress. Either situation is not ideal and will eventually take a toll on your body.

I always tell my patients that exercising doesn’t have to be in a fancy gym. All the little things you can do during your day add up. Take the stairs, do some cleaning around the house, walk briskly to and from work, dance – all of these would qualify as moderate exercise.

If the heat bothers you – and I completely understand not wanting to be outside at the height of a Beijing summer – pick a cooler time of the day to go out. Choose an activity you enjoy and can stick to, and then figure out how to work it into your lifestyle. I head to the park at around 8 a.m. on weekends and see lots of elder people walking at that time. They set an amazing example for the rest of us. If you like to walk on your own, pedometers are great tools to help us set daily goals for the number of steps we take.

A word about diabetes

Health news has recently put the spotlight back on diabetes. To manage diabetes, lifestyle modifications are always the first option, and these must include establishing healthy diet and exercise routines.

However, diabetics need to be extremely careful about how they exercise because they have other risk factors to consider. If you are at high risk for cardiovascular disease, don’t go out and do vigorous exercises regularly. Medicines that help lower your blood sugar may make exercising dangerous because exercise requires the use of a lot of sugar. Vigorous exercise is also not recommended for those who have eye-related complications from diabetes because of fragile retinas. Those with weakened nervous systems are advised to frequently check the soles of their feet for cuts and bruises that could potentially develop into infections or worse injuries.

If you are diabetic, consult your physician about appropriate exercises for you. Monitor your physical condition carefully. And when you exercise, keep sugary foods handy.

Exercising promotes general physical and psychological health. It’s wonderful to feel at the top of your game and know that your body is capable of doing everything it should. So get out there, and get on the path of living your life to the fullest.

* List derived partially from www.uptodate.com